Prospective knowledge gain by combining old knowledge and new research in psychotherapy

Abstract

To connect old knowledge with new, it is helpful to establish a relationship between the two using scientific methodology. Following a reference by Verena Kast, quotations by Bruce Wampold (*1948) and by C. G. Jung (1875–1961) were compared within the framework of empirical qualitative methodological considerations. The results are relevant both for psychotherapeutic practice and in methodological terms. The distinctive feature of this initial hypothesis is the assumption that existing knowledge represents specialised knowledge that has emerged from the various contexts of origin in each case, which is condensed and concretely formulated in quotations. These statements, formulated at different times on different continents in different socio-cultural research contexts, are thus put into context. The topic of ‹effective therapists› is examined, although this is only explicitly named by Wampold in one article. Similar statements by Jung can be found in several articles, but these first had to be identified in order to contrast them with Wampold’s statements. The following findings emerge from the examination of a pair of quotations about ‹effective therapists› taken as examples: On the one hand, Jung’s old knowledge is closely related to Wampold’s contextual meta-model, despite the differences in the history of its development, and on the other hand, it ties in with new research by Tschuschke or Sell and Benecke.